CASEY HILL crunches the numbers and discovers the McMillan electorate stands to lose more than most from the 2014 Federal Budget.

Caution: heavy lifting ahead

June 7, 2014 WITH a high proportion of low-income earners, a high ageing population and a low proportion of university attenders, the McMillan electorate stands to lose more than most from the 2014 Federal Budget. According to the Australian Council of Social Services, Joe Hockey’s first budget contains many measures that will affect people living on low incomes in Australia and many of the services that support them. Low-income families could lose as much as 10 per cent of their incomes while high-income couples may suffer scarcely, if at all. The pain will be greatest for working-age people at the lowest income levels. In our electorate of McMillan, according to ABS Data, median family weekly incomes sit at $1230, compared with a Victorian median of $1460 and an Australian median of $1481. It’s clear the introduction of a $7 “co-payment” for GP consultations, pathology tests and diagnostic imaging services will also hurt many in our communities. According to the Australian Medical Association’s Dr Steve Hambleton, the very low-income earners, the seriously mentally unwell, and the aged will be hardest hit by these measures.

Treasurer Joe Hockey. Photo: Radio Australia

"The challenge is that everyone in Australia has to help to do the heavy lifting in the budget, because if the burden falls on a few, the weight of that burden will crush them. "Everyone is going to have to make a contribution - big business, small business, all people from all demographics across the community."Joe Hockey speaks to AM, Radio National, April 1, 2014

Let’s consider the age demographics of McMillan. According to ABS Data, people aged 60 and over make up 23.3 per cent of the population of McMillan, compared with 19.7 per cent across Victoria and 19.6 per cent across Australia.

Senior members of our community will not just be hit hard when they visit the GP. This budget also contains a variety of measures that will “eliminate or cut a range of entitlements for older Australians”. The pension entitlement age will rise to 70 by the year 2035. However from July 1 this year, the Seniors Supplement will be abolished and the Seniors Health Card will be harder to qualify for, among other measures.

As for education, in McMillan, 27.8 per cent of the population attend an educational institution of some form. Of these, only 6.2 per cent of people attend a university or tertiary institution, compared to 15.2 per cent across Victoria and 14.3 per cent across Australia. We should be concerned about another barrier to university access for our young people. Institutions can now very significantly and rapidly increase fees from 2016, making it likely that people from low socio-economic backgrounds could be dissuaded by higher debts from entering university. The budget measures are likely to place access to a quality tertiary education even more out of reach of our school leavers.

And what about the impact on our schools?

According to Stewart Riddle, an expert from the University of South Queensland, the budget continues the Coalition’s policy position of moving support from the public sector to the privatising and marketisation of education in Australia. It scraps the final two years of a six-year agreement, which were due to deliver the bulk of the money under the Better Schools funding agreement. This money would have enhanced the capacity of our schools to deliver quality educational outcomes to our young people.

This is particularly important in an electorate like McMillan, where there is a heavy reliance on government schools. In McMillan, 21.9 per cent attend a government primary school, compared with 16.8 per cent across Victoria and 18.2 per cent across Australia. At a secondary school level, 15.5 per cent of our population attend a government secondary school, compared to 12 per cent across Victoria and 11.9 per cent across Australia. Again, students within McMillan, particularly our government schools, will be more affected.

The people of McMillan contribute by way of unpaid work within our communities. According to ABS statistics, when compared to the rest of Victoria and Australia, we perform more voluntary work through organisations and groups and provide more unpaid assistance to people with disabilities. We care for children and perform unpaid domestic work at above average rates also. The people of McMillan deserve a fair go.

It has been suggested by members of the government that we all need to do some heavy lifting, but this budget hits our communities in a disproportionate and unfair way.

Our local member Russell Broadbent has an obligation to stand up for the groups within our community who are now set to do more than their share of the so called “heavy lifting”.

Casey Hill has a social science degree and is fitting graduate study in occupational health and safety around raising three children.